Booker burst onto the scene as a sophomore in 2016-17, averaging 22.1 points per game as a 20-year-old, not to mention dropping 70 points on the Celtics. His game has continued to evolve since then, improving his efficiency and becoming a better distributor. Booker reached a career-high 46.7 FG% last season despite a 5.7 percent dip from beyond the arc. He also spent a career-high 15 percent of his minutes at point guard in 2018-19 and averaged a career-high 6.8 assists in the process. However, with the Suns signing Ricky Rubio during the offseason, it's possible Phoenix envisions Booker as more of a pure scorer than a combo guard, so we may see his assists decrease. Booker has had no problem scoring the ball, and he racked up 21 performances with at least 30 points last season, plus two 50-point outings. While Booker's role seems to be in a slight flux, he's unquestionably the No. 1 option on the Suns, and he should continue being one of the most high-usage players in the league. Read Past Outlooks

$Signed a five-year, $158.05 million contract extension with the Suns in July of 2018.

Personal Bio

Booker was born in 1996 in Grand Rapids, Michigan to parents Veronica Gutierrez and Melvin Booker. His father exposed Devin to basketball at an early age, as he played professionally both in the NBA and overseas. In his early teen years, Booker spent his summers in Italy, where Melvin had been playing for Olimpia Milano. Booker also has a brother, Davon Wade, and a sister, Mya Powell. With the Suns, Booker has pledged to donate $2.5 million over a five-year span to his charity "Devin Booker Starting Five," which is dedicated to impacting the lives of Arizona youth and families in need. You can follow Booker on Twitter (@DevinBook) and Instagram (@dbook).

College/International Summary

Booker was named the 2014-15 SEC Sixth Man of the Year in his freshman and lone season for Kentucky. He also collected a 14-15 SEC All-Freshman nod and placed on the 14-15 All-SEC second team. The Grand Rapids, Michigan native helped lead the Wildcats to the 14-15 SEC regular-season title, the 2015 SEC Tournament title and the 2015 NCAA Tournament Final Four. He led Kentucky in three-pointers made per game (1.5) and was second on Kentucky in three-point percentage (41.1 percent). The guard was third on the Wildcats in points (10.0) and field goals per game (3.6). Booker entered the 2015 NBA Draft after his freshman season and was selected in the first round (13th overall) by the Phoenix Suns.

Could see more work at point guard

GPhoenix Suns

Hip

April 19, 2020

Suns coach Monty Williams said Thursday that he wants to explore using Booker (hip) at point guard more when the NBA season resumes, Kellan Olson of ArizonaSports.com reports.

ANALYSISRicky Rubio's arrival in Phoenix this season has limited Booker to almost exclusively to an off-ball role, with the 23-year-old having logged just one percent of his minutes at point guard in 2019-20 compared to 15 percent in 2018-19 and five percent in 2017-18, per Basketball-Reference. In order to open up more time for Booker to initiate the offense, Williams may have to get creative in staggering minutes between Rubio and Booker. Any minor uptick in minutes on the ball could translate into an uptick in usage for Booker, whose 29.1 percent rate for the season is his lowest since 2017-18.

Booker started 64 games for the Phoenix Suns during the 2018-2019 season, his fourth year in the league. He set new career highs in terms of points per game (26.6 ppg) and assists per game (6.8 apg). The scoring uptick allowed him to finish with the sixth-highest per-game average in the league, while also posting a career-best 46.7 percent shooting from the field. Furthermore, Booker played a career-high 35.0 minutes per game, which was the seventh-most in the NBA. On Jan. 24, Booker scored 27 points against the Portland Trail Blazers and in the process became the fifth-youngest player in NBA history to score 5,000 career points. He scored a season-high 59 points against the Utah Jazz on March 25. In the following game, he put up another 50 points against the Washington Wizards, making him the youngest player in NBA history with back-to-back 50-point games. In a triple-overtime game against the Wizards on Dec. 22, Booker set a new career high for assists in a game with 14. He finished with 1,700 points, which was the 15th-highest total in the league. Booker also finished ninth in the league with 393 made free throws, due largely to a career-high in attempts (454).

2017

Booker continued to evolve into one of the league's most talented young scorers in 2017-18. Although he was limited to 54 games due to injury, Booker was as explosive as ever when healthy. He led Phoenix with a career-best 24.9 points per game, ranking 10th in the NBA. The ex-Kentucky Wildcat also established his best per-game marks in rebounds (4.5), assists (4.7) and three-pointers (2.7). Meanwhile, he shot the ball at the highest clip of his career across all three major categories: field goals (43.2%), three-pointers (38.3%) and free throws (87.8%). Booker's advanced stats told a similar story; he posted a 56.1 TS% and 50.1 EFG%, both career-highs. The former lottery pick exploded for 46 points in a win over Philadelphia on Dec. 4, making 17-of-32 field goals including 5-of-8 from deep. The performance was one of three during the 2017-18 campaign in which Booker scored 40 or more points. He also collected four double-doubles on the season, including a 40-point, 10-rebound showing against Memphis on Feb. 26. That performance came in the midst of a hot streak in which Booker surpassed the 30 point mark in four straight contests. Over that stretch, he averaged 35.7 points and 7.8 rebounds per game while shooting 46.9% from the field.

2016

Booker turned the corner from high-upside rookie to arguably the team's best all-around player in 2016-17. It took him just five games to set a new career high with 38 points Nov. 2 against Portland, and he set a new mark with 39 the very next game against the Lakers. On March 24 against Brooklyn, the then 20-year-old racked up 70 points across 45 minutes in a 130-120 loss to Boston. Booker went 21-for-40 from the field in that contest, also collecting eight rebounds, six assists and three steals. He was such a key piece of the Phoenix offensive scheme that he ended up finishing 14th in the entire league in both minutes played (2,730) and field goals attempted (1,431) across 78 games. Booker led the team in scoring at 22.1 ppg, joining Eric Bledsoe (21.1 ppg) as the only 20-point scorers. He also tallied a team-high 147 three-pointers made, converting them at a success rate of 36.3 percent. Booker and the Suns finished the season with a record of 24-58 and missed the postseason.

2015

Booker was drafted by the Phoenix Suns in the 1st round (13th pick) of the 2015 NBA Draft. Little did the league know at the time that Booker would ultimately represent one of that draft's best value picks. The Kentucky product made his NBA debut on Oct. 28 against Dallas, making an immediate impact off the bench with 14 points and three rebounds. He missed time over the next two weeks, due partially to a minor ankle injury, but by late December, Booker had locked down a starting spot and never looked back. It was the turn of the calendar year to 2016 when Booker took a massive leap forward, however. Through the season's last 47 games, he averaged 18.3 points on 41.1 percent shooting, seeing 35.0 minutes per contest and starting all but one of those contests. Booker had four 30-point games in the month of March, posting a career high of 35 points on March 10 against the Nuggets. When it was all said and done, Booker appeared in 76 games (51 starts) during his rookie season, and he finished the year with averages of 13.8 points, 2.6 assists and 2.5 rebounds. He finished third on the team in scoring and fourth in minutes played. Booker was awarded First-Team All-Rookie honors at the end of the year and received several second-place nods in the Rookie of the Year voting.

With the current season on hold, there's no better time than now to look ahead to what the 2020-21 fantasy basketball season holds.

Past Fantasy Outlooks

2018

2017

2016

2015

Injuries dampened what was otherwise another outstanding season for Booker, as he took the floor for just 54 games due to hand and groin injuries in 2017-18. When he was healthy and on the court, Booker was once again an elite scorer, posting a career-high 24.9 points per game, which was up from 22.1 a year prior and also placed him 10th in the entire league. That slight uptick in scoring was likely due to increased efficiency. Booker shot 43.2 percent from the field, 38.3 percent from three-point range and 87.8 percent from the free-throw line, all of which were the best numbers of his career. He added 4.5 rebounds and 4.7 assists, while finishing 12th in the league with 2.7 three-pointers made. That production made him one of the elite shooting guards in the league and that isn't expected to change heading into the upcoming season. The Suns selected center Deandre Ayton with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft and while that's another mouth to feed offensively, he'll actually likely help draw defenses away from Booker and should allow him to keep his efficiency up with another year of solid percentages. Booker also just signed a max five-year, $158 million contract extension, so the Suns have committed to him long term and the are going to continue to rely on him as the team's go-to option offensively. With all that said, Booker will be a top-tier shooting guard option on draft day and will likely come off the board in the first three or four rounds or so of most Fantasy formats.

Booker was one of the lone bright spots for the 24-58 Suns last season, leading the team in points per game (22.1) and usage percentage (28.6). 2016-17 was a breakout campaign for the now 20-year-old, raising his numbers essentially across the board as a result of his workload jumping from 27.7 minutes to 35.0 minutes per game. Impressively, despite being asked to carry such an increased share of the offense, Booker remained almost equally efficient from his rookie to his sophomore campaign, his effective field-goal percentage dropping just a hair from 48.0 to 47.5. We can’t talk about Booker without mentioning his stunning 70-point outing, however. On March 24, 2016, in a loss to the Celtics, Booker dropped 70 points (21-40 FG, 4-11 3Pt, 24-26 FT), eight rebounds, six assists, three steals and one block across 45 minutes. While the team wasn’t exactly subtle about giving Booker as many opportunities as possible to stack his point total, the feat remains incredibly impressive and was a historic Fantasy moment. It also highlights his big-game potential, as he racked up 14 games last season with at least 30 points. Overall, with the Suns still rebuilding heading into next season, there should be no shortage of touches for Booker and it seems safe to assume he’ll, at the very least, hover around his averages from 2016-17. While he’s not an elite rebounder, passer or defender at shooting guard, there are few players at his position that will likely see the kind of usage and free-reign on offense that he garners.

Considering he entered last season as the NBA’s youngest player and was playing behind a talented starting backcourt of Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight, Booker was never expected to fill a major role for the Suns as a rookie. However, with both Bledsoe and Knight going down with long-term injuries by midseason, Booker was bumped into the starting five and to the surprise of many, almost immediately thrived. Over a 47-game stretch from January through the end of the season, Booker averaged an impressive 18.3 points, 3.7 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.7 three-pointers in 35.0 minutes per game. With few playmakers in the lineup alongside him, Booker’s efficiency unsurprisingly took a hit, but he still finished the year with a 34.3 percent mark from three-point range, an impressive achievement for a 19-year-old. While Booker was touted as one of the best shooters in his draft class, he showed some ability to distribute the ball as the season progressed, suggesting he’s not merely just a long-range specialist. He’ll likely see his usage take a step back in 2016-17 as he moves back into a sixth-man role now that Bledsoe and Knight are entering the season at full health, but Booker’s percentages should take a leap forward while he works off the ball more often. The future is clearly bright for Booker, who could ultimately unseat P.J. Tucker as the starting small forward if he’s able to add muscle on his 6-foot-6 frame and make some improvements on the defensive end.

The Suns were thrilled to grab the rookie out of Kentucky with the 13th overall pick in the 2015 draft. Booker is arguably already the Suns' best three-point shooter, and it wouldn't be a surprise if he ends up as one of the better marksmen in the league by season's end. The 6-6 swingman shot a scorching 53 percent from three as a freshman last season, with three-pointers accounting for more than half of his field goal attempts. A true two-guard in every sense of the word, Booker is most comfortable in the backcourt, but he'll likely see considerable time at small forward given the Suns' already-strong guard tandem of Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight. It should be a relatively easy adjustment for Booker offensively, but he could struggle on the other end keeping up with bigger wings. After a strong Las Vegas Summer League showing, Booker figures to be a part of the regular rotation from day one. He probably won't start as a rookie, but his three-point stroke will be tough to keep off the floor, and his game fits nicely with coach Jeff Hornacek's fast-paced system. From a fantasy standpoint, Booker projects to be a nice source for three-pointers, but he may not offer much else. He didn't show much potential as a rebounder at Kentucky, though he wasn't really asked to do so, and he won't play on the ball enough to generate significant assist numbers.

More Fantasy News

Hurts hip in loss to Portland

GPhoenix Suns

Hip

March 11, 2020

Booker said after Tuesday's 121-105 loss to the Trail Blazers that he hurt his right hip in the contest, though he expects to be okay moving forward, Gina Mizell of The Athletic reports. He finished the night with 29 points (9-25 FG, 2-7 3Pt, 9-10 FT), nine assists and six boards in 36 minutes.